Steroids And Sports Essay

1298 words - 5 pages

Steroids and Sports

Steroids, ever since their introduction into the sports world five decades ago, they have been a controversial issue (WebMD medical news). Anabolic performance dates as far back as the original Olympic Games. Today walking into any gym you will find some one who is using steroids or some kind of enhancement supplement. Anabolic steroids are so popular with athletes from high School level all the way up to the top. For the past fifty years, athletes around the world use steroids to gain muscle mass, and along with regular work-outs try to achieve the results they desire. Kids today using these drugs are getting younger and younger every day. But is it worth the cost? I believe the ban on steroids should be strictly enforced because besides the health risks it provides, it also compromises the integrity of the game in sports.

The history of anabolic steroids can be traced back to the 1930's when a team of scientists first produced synthetic testosterone. The purpose of this synthetic steroid was to improve malnutrition and muscle loss in patients. In to the sports arena they were first introduced by the German athletes in preparation for the 1936 Olympic Games (Measles 2). The Russian Weight-lifting team won several metals in 1952 Olympic Games due to the use of "synthetic testosterone (Measles 54). After this American sport's physicians determined the US athletes should have the same completive advantage, and so the Americans started to use steroids. By the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, the debate was not over the ethical or moral use of the drugs, but whether which drug was more effective. By 1969 all was in the open; the talk among users was all praise of the effect steroids had on performance (Measles 55). Rumor has it that high School athletes started using anabolic steroids as early as 1959. Allegedly a Texas physician distributed steroids to a high School team for a whole season (Measles 64).

The use of steroids by athletes to gain muscle mass is rapid and effective. Each individual user makes a decision based on the activity they participate. Some athletes desire to jump higher, others to run faster, or to throw the farthest and hit home runs, yet others desire to bench the highest weight possible; and football players want to improve on lean body mass and have a comparative edge, whether in high school, collage, or the pros. Andrew Rensik, of 9BNEWS reports that, "national statistics show that as much as ten percent of high school athletes are involved in steroids" (9NEWS.com). A university of Michigan report by the Monitoring Future Study puts steroid use at 4 percent in 2002, up from 25 percent in 2000. In 1992 71 percent of high school seniors felt that steroid use wasn't worth risking their health, that number dropped to 51 percent in 2002 (www.nsba.org, Ron Kriochic, Mitch Stephens). "Peak rates of annual use occurred in 2002 and 2004 for 12th graders (2.5 percent), in 2000 and 2002 for 10th...

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